A wide variety of operating strategies and component geometries are known in the field of internal combustion engines. Engineers have experimented for decades with different ways to operate fueling, exhaust, intake, and other engine systems, and different ways to shape and proportion engine components. One motivation behind such experimentation has been balancing the often competing concerns of reducing certain emissions in the engine exhaust, and optimizing efficiency. Internal combustion engines typically burn air and a hydrocarbon fuel. Combustion of the fuel and air produces exhaust from the internal combustion engine, which can include a variety of compounds and materials such as soot, ash, unburned hydrocarbons, water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and various other organic and inorganic species.
In recent years, the reduction in emissions of oxides of nitrogen, collectively referred to as “NOx,” and the reduction of particulate matter which generally includes soot and ash, has been of particular focus in internal combustion engine research. Unfortunately, reducing these undesirable exhaust constituents often comes at the expense of efficiency properties such as fuel efficiency and/or attainable engine speed or power. As noted above, component shapes and operating parameters of the engine have been varied in almost innumerable ways over the years. One area of particular focus has involved attempts to shape a piston combustion face in such a way that certain exhaust emissions are reduced, without sacrificing efficiency.
One common piston design directed to reducing emissions without unduly sacrificing efficiency includes a combustion bowl defined by the combustion face of the piston which is exposed to and defines a portion of the engine combustion chamber. It is believed that a combustion bowl may affect the flow and combustion properties of gases and atomized liquid fuel during a combustion event in such a way that the make-up of the combustion products can be tailored for various purposes. As mentioned above, it is often desirable to reduce NOx and particulate matter without unduly affecting combustion efficiency.
Currently, despite the development of numerous research and commercial designs for piston combustion bowls, the science of combustion as it relates to bowl shape or combinations of shapes during a combustion event is not fully understood. It is well known that even relatively minor modifications to combustion bowl geometry can have significant effects on the type and relative proportions of combustion products. Due to this lack of sufficient understanding, the art provides relatively little guidance on how to achieve any specific set of goals. Engineers have discovered many different variables which they know will have some effect on emissions and/or efficiency, but the grouping of these variables and other factors do not often result in satisfactory and predictable results. Developing a suitable design often requires years of research and development including thorough application, testing and field analysis.